Collapse of socialism

Mario Draghi says outloud the thing that everyone knows, but no one has had courage to acknowledge:
"European Central Bank President Mario Draghi warned beleaguered euro-zone countries that there is no escape from tough austerity measures and that the Continent's traditional social contract is obsolete, as he waded into an increasingly divisive debate over how to tackle the region's fiscal and economic troubles.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Wall Street Journal at his downtown office here, Mr. Draghi reflected on how the region's travails were pushing Europe toward a closer union. He said Europe's vaunted social model—which places a premium on job security and generous safety nets—is "already gone," citing high youth unemployment; in Spain, it tops 50%. He urged overhauls to boost job creation for young people."
 

Krugman on welfare state

A lot of interesting information of welfare state from Paul Krugman.

Latvian identity

As it was expected, most Latvians rejected the idea of making Russian a second official language and, by implication, granting the full rights of the citizenship to 300,000 of ethnic Russians living in Latvia for at least more than 20 years (i.e. from before the collapse of USSR.)

My personal belief is that such a significant minority (nearly 1/3 of Latvia population are ethnic Russians) should be allowed to study and carry out business in their native language. In Latvia the situation is exacerbated by the fact that knowledge of Latvian language is a pre-requisite for obtaining Latvian citizenship, even for those who have been living in Latvia from before the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

The argument that limiting the rights of the Latvian Russians is justified by the need for preserving the Latvian culture is refuted by the example of Israel, which has Arabic as one of its two official languages. Yet, Israel has been frequently criticized, as for its supposed mistreatment of the Arab minority, as well as for its government's insistence on preserving Israel's Jewish identity, frequently voiced in connection to the peace negotiations.

What is the difference between being able to produce a nuclear weapon and actually producing one? (None)

Although I am not surprised that the same facts can be interpreted very differently (particularly by the media), it is a point that is always worth stressing:
"If you look at the “2012 Worldwide Threat Assessment” presented on February 16 by Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper to the Senate Armed Services Committee, and compare it with the “2011 Worldwide Threat Assessment,” you find a startling development. Last year, the assessment was “we do not know whether [North Korea] has produced nuclear weapons, but we assess it has the capability to do so.” This year it is, “North Korea has produced nuclear weapons.”" [Original links preserved, emphasis mine]